Dutch Boterkoek

Chad asked me to find some typical but old Dutch recipes for Christmas so I talked to the lady who used to take care of us, Frances Anker, when my brother and I were little. She was born and raised in Holland and was an au pair when she and her family moved to the US when she was a teenager. She provided me with this recipe for Boteroek.

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 1/4 cups butter

3/4 cup white sugar

1 tablespoon lemon zest

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 tablespoon milk

blanched almonds

Directions:

Preheat an oven to 400 degrees F . Lightly grease an 8-inch tart tin, or a 9-inch pie pan. Whisk together the flour and baking powder; set aside.

Beat the butter, sugar, lemon zest, and vanilla extract with an electric mixer in a large bowl until smooth. Mix in the flour mixture until the dough forms ball. Press the dough into the prepared tin, and brush with the milk. Frances saidshe pressed a blanched almond into the dough about every inch or so so that each piece had an almond.

Bake in the preheated oven until golden brown and still somewhat soft at the center, about 35 minutes. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then remove, and cut into 16 squares. Cool completely on a wire rack.